BEBTOLONIA. 



Greenliouse and Stove Plants. 



67 



last for sevepcal years, increasing in size, 

 requiring larger pots, and bearing pro- 

 portionately more flowers. When it is 

 desirable to increase any sort by eat- 

 ings, these can be made of the shoots in 

 pieces about 3 inches long ; inserted in 

 sand, kept moist, moderately close, and 

 shaded in a temperature of 60°, they will 

 root ; then pot singly, and treat as advised 

 for the seedlings while at a corresponding 

 size. If desired these Begonias can, when 

 strong, be kept on flowering through a 

 good part of the winter. 



Like Gloxinias, Petunias, and some other 

 softwooded j)lants, the strains of which 

 have been so much improved, there is an 

 almost endless number of good varieties in 

 cultivation. 



The followinc; are all fine sorts : — 



B. Canary Bird. Yellow. 



B. Clarinda. Buflf, flaked with white, 

 petals edged with pink. 



B. iJavisi flore-pleno. Crimson-scai-let. 



B. Dr. Duke. Bright scarlet. 



B. formosa. Carmine, centre white. 



B. Francis Buclmer. Cerise-red. 



B. Gabriel Legros. Sulphur-white. 



B. Jules Lequin. Red, shaded salmon- 

 vermilion. 



B. Little Gem. Pure white. 



B. Madame Truffaut. Orange. 



B. Queen of Doubles. Rosy-crimson. 



B. Souvenir de Michel Saunders. Bright 

 red, shaded. 



B. Acme. Purple-carmine. 



B. Arthur G. Soames. Crimson-scarlet 



B. Ball of Fire. Glowing scarlet. 



B. Black Douglas. Rich dark crimson. 



B. Charles Baltet. Vermilion. 



B. Dr. Masters. Crimson. 



B. Empress of India. Yellow. 



B. Hon. and Rev. J. T. Boscaiven. Deep 

 crimson. 



B. J. L. Macfarlane. Deep orange. 



B. Lady Hume Campbell. Light pink. 



B. Madaiite Laing. Bright red. 



B. Marquis of Bute. Carmine-crimson. 



B. Mrs. Dr. Duke. Brilliant purple- 

 cerise. 



B. Mrs. J. Freeman. Rose, shaded pur- 

 plish-\'iolet. 



B. Nymph. White, tinted rose. 



B. Scarlet Gem. Dark scarlet. 



B. Sir Trevor Lawrence. Dark crimson. 



B. Snoivflake. Pure white. 



B. Stanstead Rival. Salmon-red. 



B. Sulphur Queen. Sulphur-yellow. 

 Insects. — These Begonias are little 



troubled by insects ; for thrips, whicli 

 sometimes establish themselves on the 

 undersides of the leaves, syringe freely 

 with clean water. 



BERBERIDOPSIS CORALINA. 



An evergreen plant mth j^retty red 

 flowers, sometimes used as a greenhouse 

 climber. From Chili. 



It is increased by cuttings struck in 

 spring in moderate heat, and grown on 

 with the usual greenliouse treatment until 

 large enough to plant out, when it should 

 have a well-prepared bed of open peaty 

 soil. 



Insects. — The plant is subject to red 

 spider, the best means of keeping which 

 in check is a free use of the syringe daily 

 through the growing season. 



BERTOLONIA. 



These small-growing stove Melastomads 

 almost vie, as regards beauty of leaf- 

 marking, with the most charming of the 

 variegated Orchids. They are natives of 

 the hot countiies of the East, and to grow 

 them well and bring out and preserve 

 their leaf-marking a high temperature is 

 required. They are plants of quite a soft- 

 wooded character, and do not grow to a 

 height of more than 6 or 8 inches. They 

 strike freely from cuttings made from 

 shoots in a half-solidified condition. They 

 may be struck at any time when obtainalde 

 in that state, but are most likely to be in 

 proper condition in spring. Each cutting 

 should consist of at least a couple of joints. 

 Put them in small pots singly in sand, and 

 cover them with a projDagating glass, but 

 do not keep them so close as to cause 

 damp, as soft growth of a nature such as 

 these, if too close and moist, is liable to 

 r(jt. Give as much water as will prevent 

 flagging, keep in a warm stove temperature, 

 ami shade when the sun renders this 

 necessary ; they will soon make roots, when 

 they should be given more air, and, as they 

 get established, be removed to larger pots. 

 The soil best suited to them is fibrous peat 

 nii.xed with some sphagnum, sand, and 

 crocks. A temperature of from 65° to 70° 

 in the night during the growing season, 

 with a rise by day proportionate to the 

 waimth of the weather, will answer ; 60° 

 by night, with 5° or 10° more in the day, 

 will do for the winter. Some growers 

 keep the most delicately marked kinds 

 almost wholly covered with a bell-glass, as 

 Anoectochili are sometimes grown, but this 

 treatment makes the plants very si ift and 

 tender ; j-et tliev do not do well it' lihucd 



